Savannah Morning News | Jane Kahnhttp://savannahnow.com/sms/taxonomy/term/2409/
enShalom, Y'all Jewish Food Festival back in Forsyth for 26th yearhttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-10-23/shalom-yall-jewish-food-festival-back-forsyth-26th-year
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13809493.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="224" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13809492.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="350" /></div></p>
<p>26 — Consecutive years of Savannah’s Jewish Food Festival</p>
<p>500–750 — Loaves of challah </p>
<p>10,000 — Noshers in Forsyth Park </p>
<p>1,700 — blintzes </p>
<p>40 — Trays of kugel</p>
<p>50,000 — Tickets to be sold the day of the festival </p>
</p>
<p>The Shalom Y’all Jewish Food Festival will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 26 in Forsyth Park. </p>
<p>This year, the organizers of Congregation Mickve Israel’s 26th annual festival say they do not plan to run out of challah, the festival’s bestselling take-away treat. Still, organizers advise, get there early to guarantee your selections.</p>
<p>The dough for the freshly baked and braided egg-flavored bread is being donated to the food festival by new Mickve Israel member Jessie Brinsfield, a professional baker who moved here from Greensboro, N.C., and started her bakery, Delicious. She delivers Challah every Friday to Temple Mickve Israel and makes home deliveries, as well. (Last fall, in ceremonies at the very same Forsyth Park fountain, she and her husband were married by Mickve Israel’s Rabbi Robert Haas.) </p>
<p>The statistics are staggering. And it’s not just the numbers of challahs.</p>
<p>Consider, on an average 4-hour Jewish Food Festival year, 10,000 visitors milling around Forsyth Park. </p>
<p>From set-up (beginning at 7 a.m.) to take down, including cooking, packaging, cashiering and serving, there will be some 250-300 volunteers, many from this tradition-steeped congregation handling the same tasks that they have handled during the past 26 years. (This excludes the hundreds of volunteer hours of planning, promoting and preparing since last year.) </p>
<p>Food fest noshers will consume such ethnic and cultural delights as 1,700 cheese blintzes, 2,200 potato latkes; 500 stuffed sweet and sour cabbage rolls; 500 Sephardic lamb sandwiches; more than 2,500 deli sandwiches (that would include 900 pounds of pastrami, corned beef or tongue) on rye. Plus kosher hot dogs. And all sorts of holiday sweets. </p>
<p>In fact, on food fest Day alone, more than 50,000 tickets will be sold, in addition to healthy advance sales. </p>
<p>Mickve Israel’s Rabbi Haas will “work the park,” answering questions about the religion and the culture. Organizers joke that the rabbi is in charge of weather again this year. (Through the years, Mickve Israel rabbis have done a remarkable job. In only one year was the festival moved indoors because of weather.) </p>
<p>It’s an all-out Savannah celebration of traditional Jewish culture, and maybe, organizers say, the establishment of more. </p>
<p>Shalom Y’all Jewish Food Festival draws volunteers from the entire Jewish community, including all three Savannah synagogues, the Savannah Jewish Federation, the Jewish Educational Alliance and from the general community, as well.</p>
<p>This year has seen the involvement of many first-timers. In fact, Risa Perl, general chairman, followed her son to SCAD last year, but this is her first festival. It’s time for a newer generation to take over, says Perl, who adds that taking on this project is a way for her to pay back the community for the reception she has had in Savannah. She has been eased into the post by six-year veteran chairman Lauri Taylor, keeper of extensive festival files.</p>
<p>The festival’s 23 booths, including 19 food vendors, are sponsored by specialized service organizations (who better than area doctors to sponsor chicken soup with matzo balls or Savannah lawyers to offer the coffee bar?) </p>
<p>National corporate sponsors also participate. Congregation president Toby Hollenberg expressed her appreciation for the support of the entire community for the major citywide event. </p>
<p>The festival will open and close with the blasts of the Shofar — the ram’s horn that traditionally ushers in the Jewish New Year — blown by Mickve Israel’s “Shofar Brigade,” five shofar blowers representing different groups of the congregation. During the day, there will be family-style entertainment near the fountain, including Israeli dancing by Maxine Patterson’s School of Dance, music by a trio from the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra and a performance by Danielle Hicks.</p>
<p>There will be cupcake decorating, face painting and the popular Sisterhood Bauble Bar, featuring recycled and restyled costume jewelry. “The Mickve Israel Shalom Y’all Cookbook,” including many of the traditional festival recipes, will be for available for $18.</p>
<p>Admission to the park is free. Items generally sell for $1-$10. Ticket booths will be located at the festival main entrance on Gaston and Bull streets, and mid-park near the playground.</p>
</p>
<p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p>
<p>What: Shalom Y’all Jewish Food Festival</p>
<p>When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 26</p>
<p>Where: Forsyth Park</p>
<p>Cost: Admission is free; food is $1-$10</p>
<p>Info: www.mickveisrael.org/food-fest</p>
</p>
<p><strong>TEMPLE KUGEL</strong></p>
<p>In recognition of the return this year of the popular Temple Kugel dish, the Shalom Y’all Jewish Food Festival has agreed to share its (slightly revised) original noodle cream cheese recipe with Do Savannah readers.</p>
</p>
<p><strong>1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened </strong></p>
<p><strong>1 stick butter, softened </strong></p>
<p><strong>1 cup sugar</strong></p>
<p><strong>8 eggs, well beaten </strong></p>
<p><strong>4 ½ cups whole milk</strong></p>
<p><strong>1 ½ to 2 teaspoons vanilla</strong></p>
<p><strong>1/8 teaspoon salt</strong></p>
<p><strong>1 8-ounce package of egg noodles</strong></p>
</p>
<p><strong>Topping (combine and crush with rolling pin)</strong></p>
<p><strong>2 cups cornflakes</strong></p>
<p><strong>¼ cup sugar</strong></p>
<p><strong>2 tablespoons cinnamon</strong></p>
</p>
<p>Beat cream cheese and butter; add cup of sugar and cream and mix thoroughly. Blend in eggs, then add milk, vanilla and salt. Pour mixture over uncooked noodles. Mix. Pour into greased 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle cornflakes mixture on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1-1 ¼ hours. Cut into squares for serving. Serve hot, or may be frozen.</p>
</p>
<p>Copyright Congregation Mickve Israel. A version of this recipe appears in the “Shalom Y’all” cookbook, which will be for sale at the festival.</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-10-23/shalom-yall-jewish-food-festival-back-forsyth-26th-year#commentsDoAccentJane KahnEducationEntertainmentReligionGreensboroCongregation Mickve IsraelThe Mickve IsraelChallahCongregation Mickve IsraelContact DetailsEducationEntertainmentfoodFood and drinkForsyth ParkGeography of GeorgiaJessie BrinsfieldJewish cuisineJewish cultureKugelNorth CarolinaPerson CareerPerson RelationRabbiReligionRisa PerlRobert HaasRosh HashanahSavannah, GeorgiaShalomShalom Y'allTemple Mickve IsraelUSDThu, 23 Oct 2014 04:31:37 +0000Jane Kahn1074076 at http://savannahnow.comNever too old for something new at Savannah's The Learning Centerhttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-07-20/never-too-old-something-new-savannahs-learning-center
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13383140.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="225" /></div><p />
<p>It’s class time at The Learning Center at Senior Citizens Inc. on Bull Street and Washington Avenue in Savannah. They are soft-pedaling the “Senior” part of the name, deferring to their updated monograms — SCI and TLC. </p>
<p>At least that’s what Roger Smith, the young and energetic director, has come to believe. (To quiet down a class, often Smith will raise his voice slightly and implore, “Boys and Girls, please settle down,” hearkening back to his days as a high school English teacher.)</p>
<p>Quite possibly, it’s the most educated and engaged place in town. At the end of the semester, the new catalogs come out. Like graduation from high school, when the yearbooks arrive, there’s an expectancy and a demand to be among the first.</p>
<p>But at The Learning Center, the push is to sign up for next quarter’s classes before they are sold out.</p>
<p>Classes, it seems, are limited in size by the space in the classrooms, carved from the old Central of Georgia Hospital, and adapted to a new use for — don’t dare call them old — customers. (Seasonally there is a Monday program, including wine and cheese, at Skidaway Island.)</p>
<p>It’s hard to know who is more excited when the new bulletin comes out for The Learning Center, the educational and cultural wing of SCI, whose mission is to help people age successfully through friendship, stimulation and a sense of community. </p>
<p>Smith and his staff spend months cobbling together incomparable programs that include serious humanities topics, literature across the centuries, history of wars and regions, the arts, politics, religion, music, comedy and the popular culture. Or anything else that seems interesting. </p>
<p>Shortly before he died, Savannah icon and jazz musician Ben Tucker and his wife Gloria were part of a “Some of My Best Friends Are Black” course. From time to time, courses during the year anticipate a planned Learning Center trip (one tour included the imperial cities of central Europe — Prague, Vienna and Budapest.)</p>
<p>Smith explains his guidance for programming is driven partially by the talents, interests and suggestions of the instructor. He tries for a variety of topics and plans around major historical occasions such as the anniversary of World War I or the Civil War. He consults members for their ideas. He never uses age as criteria but rather topics of interest to a range of people. </p>
<p>“Nobody is here that has to be here,” he smiles. </p>
<p>You don’t even have to be a “senior citizen” to qualify, although spots are allocated first to those over 55 years. </p>
<p>From the depth and breadth of Savannah area educators, writers, historians, clergy and experts who have developed intense hobbies, come the lecturers. Some are one-timers; others repeaters, back by the demand of full classrooms of engaged students. “We couldn’t do our programming without (in many cases) our volunteer instructors. No budget figure would be indicative of (the quality of) our programming,” says Smith. </p>
<p>There was a three-week and a six-week session this summer, including such courses as The Scandalous Bible…, New York City Neighborhoods and Great Speeches in History.</p>
<p>Smith, 45-year-old Savannahian and Armstrong State University graduate, taught American literature and French from 1990-99 at Savannah Christian Preparatory School. He was museum educator at the Massie Heritage Center, and for six years was director of education at Georgia Historical Society. Debbie Hornsby is assistant director. </p>
<p>Janet Stone speaks as both instructor and student. She retired as associate professor of history at Armstrong State University and is author of “From the Mansion to the University,” a history of Armstrong. </p>
<p>Winding up a session of her fully booked class on the Habsburg Empire, she compared the TLC students to a traditional college class: “They want substance. They don’t want fluff.” </p>
<p>She makes that substance interesting — not heavy handed. There are no tests, no papers.</p>
<p>“I can shape a course in ways that interest me and that interest the class,” she says. </p>
<p>She volunteers her time. Later in the day, she will move to another class, this time as student.</p>
<p>“The Learning Center is a wonderful place to stay mentally engaged with new friends who want to read, discuss and further an intellectual curiosity,” Stone says. “With a concentration on the humanities, the program provides material to deal with interesting questions. It’s serious, it’s fun, it’s entertaining, providing intellectual curiosity and conversation and social satisfaction.” </p>
<p>And, she smiles, “It provides lunch.”</p>
<p>That lunch, for $5, is available on Wednesdays by the same kitchen that provides 1,800 meals a day for SCI’s most well-known and far-reaching program, Meals on Wheels. According to SCI president Patti Lyons, the organization serves some 20,000 people a year, across the board, trying to meet the changing needs for those in home care, adult day care and senior companion program. (“Almost one-half of life is categorized as senior,” she said, with 28 percent of the Savannah population now over the age of 60.) </p>
<p>Participants bring to TLC rich lifetime experiences: retired physicians, university professors, former teachers (K-12), a four-star general, a Navy admiral, former staff from the United Nations, the World Bank, retired business executives, artists, writers, historians, community volunteers, and more </p>
<p>On a typical Wednesday, TLC’s biggest day, that would be about 250-300 unduplicated people, Smith said.</p>
<p>Probably 50 percent or more of the participants are retirees who have moved to this area and stayed, Smith says. By far they come from the 31411 — Skidaway Island — zip code. Next represents the Ardsley Park and mid-town 31405 zip address. </p>
<p>Through the years, topics have been as diverse as Jefferson, Fitzgerald, Debussy, Paris, the Medici, Flannery O’Connor, wars (always it seems, the Civil War), conversational languages, Savannah’s downtown historic churches, memoir writing and more. </p>
<p>Two current events discussion groups — foreign affairs and domestic news and politics — feature spirited “solutions” to the day’s problems and often continue with impromptu lunch afterwards. Painting classes, yoga and films also are available, as well as foreign language conversation circles, book clubs and a writers circle.</p>
<p>To look at the students, milling about, drinking coffee, you’d think they were headed to dinner at a retirement home.</p>
<p>But, there’s a lilt in their steps, a rush to get to the next class, (yes, up front where they can see and hear) animated conversation and an unmistakable camaraderie that suggest they have been friends for years.</p>
<p>With a sly glance at a nametag hanging around a classmate’s neck, these septuagenarians and octogenarians seem to know each other — and after as many as 7 and a half years together, they probably do. Just can’t put the name with the face today!</p>
<p>There’s a $75 per person annual membership charge. Most classes have a fee, ranging from $5 for a Wednesday lunch lecture ($10 for visitors), to a $40 program fee for each course ($80 for visitors). Some classes are free.</p>
<p>“This is something Senior Citizens needed to do,” said Lyons. “The program so much reflects the personalities of the people who come. It would be difficult to duplicate in other cities, because we are a home-grown organization, a place trying to help our community age successfully.”</p>
<p>The success of the program? </p>
<p>Says Smith: “It’s Savannah. It takes a community that is as culturally rich as we are.” </p>
<p>Says Lyons: “It’s Roger. He is the personification of excellence.”</p>
<p />
<p>Jane Kahn has participated in TLC programs since its inception in 2007. Her revived career as an award-winning freelance writer for this newspaper stems from a Learning Center field trip in 2012 to the Savannah Morning News, when she renewed contact with the publisher where 61 years ago she began her journalism career.</p>
</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-07-20/never-too-old-something-new-savannahs-learning-center#commentsAccentJane KahnEducationEntertainmentHospitalityBudapestNew York CityPRAGUEViennaWashingtonSenior Citizens Inc.American Association of State Colleges and UniversitiesArmstrong Atlantic State UniversityArmstrong State Universityassistant directorBen Tuckercentral EuropeDebbie HornsbyDirectordirector of education at Georgia Historical SocietyEducationEntertainmentFamily RelationGeography of GeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgia HospitalGloriaHospitalityJanet StoneMajorMassie Heritage CentermusicianPatti LyonsPerson AttributesPerson CareerPerson RelationQuotationRoger SmithSavannah Christian Preparatory SchoolSavannah metropolitan areaSavannah, GeorgiaSavannahianSS SavannahteacherThe Learning Centerthe Savannah Morning NewsTLCUSDSun, 20 Jul 2014 04:04:49 +0000Jane Kahn1065559 at http://savannahnow.comTLC a natural fit for Savannahhttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-07-19/tlc-natural-fit-savannah
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13383141.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="218" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13383142.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="266" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13383143.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="168" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13383144.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="154" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13383138.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="255" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13383139.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="204" /></div><p />
<p>Senior Citizens Inc. is in its 56th year serving Savannah. It has long been identified with its Meals on Wheels program, in-home care, adult daycare and traditional neighborhood centers. </p>
<p>In 2006, President Patti Lyons recognized the agency could better meet the changing needs of older adults with a more nuanced approach to the services. SCI, she felt, also needed to help people age successfully through friendship, stimulation and a sense of community.</p>
<p>A door-to-door survey of every older adult in the nearby Ardsley Park area revealed there were gaps in services offered for “aging in place” — the residents themselves wanted “intellectually engaging, academically rigorous activities.”</p>
<p>Lyons successfully applied to the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta for a grant it </p>
<p>offered for “Naturally-Occurring Retirement Communities” (NORC). Savannah’s long-established mid-town Ardsley Park neighborhood, within sight of the SCI building, seemed like a natural fit.</p>
<p>“It was the kernel of an idea,” she said. </p>
<p>As professionals in the fields of service and education, Lyons and Roger Smith had known each other for years. Lyons convinced Smith to develop and direct the program. Six months after Smith came on board, on Jan. 10, 2007, the humanities education program was launched, eventually to become The Learning Center. </p>
<p>Since 2008, TLC has been self-sustaining, depending on donations and fundraising to keep membership and class fees low. </p>
<p>From the beginning, Smith said, “it was bigger than expected.” </p>
<p>Ardis Wood, a local tour guide and community activist, was the first speaker. Among the eight courses offered were the American Civil War (by Dr. Todd Groce of Georgia Historical Society), History of Paris (by Roger Smith), a Great Decisions group, Shakespeare, the Middle East. </p>
<p>To secure speakers, Smith was tapping friends and colleagues from his wide circle of contacts. They offered to teach for free. That same caliber of instruction has been standard since TLC inception. </p>
<p>“The welfare of our clients is important,” says Lyons. </p>
<p>“We are an incredibly giving community. If it’s needed, we’ll get it.”</p>
<p>Smith believes: “If you put good feelings and good will out there, good things will come back to you. It’s not magic.</p>
</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-07-19/tlc-natural-fit-savannah#commentsAccentJane KahnAtlantaSenior Citizens Inc.Adult daycare centerDay careGeography of GeorgiaGeography of the United StatesGeorgiaLyonsMeals on WheelsPatti LyonsPerson CareerPerson LocationpresidentQuotationRoger SmithSavannahSavannah, GeorgiaSCI buildingthe Savannah Morning NewsXMLSun, 20 Jul 2014 02:02:37 +0000Jane Kahn1065539 at http://savannahnow.comSavannah history revived in Owens-Thomas House restorationhttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-05-03/savannah-history-revived-owens-thomas-house-restoration
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13245183.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="199" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13245184.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="193" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13245185.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="244" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13245182.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="397" /></div><p>In the early days of the Owens-Thomas House, circa 1830s to be precise, the Butler’s Pantry was hardly ever on view — except to the enslaved servants, who prepared the meals and cleaned up afterward, and the mistress of the house.</p>
<p>But now, this non-public room in one of Savannah’s premier house museums will be presented expressly for the public to know more about how early Savannah residents went about their daily lives. It’s part of the story of who lived in the house, who worked in the house, and who were residents of downtown Savannah when downtown Savannah was scarcely 100 years old.</p>
<p>The “new” room broadens interpretation of the stately Owens-Thomas House, designed by English architect William Jay and considered to be one of the finest examples of English Regency architecture in the country. It’s a forever project, restoring and revitalizing historical landmarks, as Owens-Thomas restoration leaders, administrators, conservators and on-site workers discover bits and pieces of a living past — a sliver of cabinetry, a slice of floor tile, a chip of marble, a swatch of floor cloth showing types of wood, color, texture and design. Detailed study of undercoating, wood graining and coloring provides a backdrop for accurate restoration, conservators note.</p>
<p>By careful research, and with access to these scraps of evidence, conservators are confident they are true to the home’s past.</p>
<p>“We know what was here,” said Tania Sammons, senior curator of decorative arts and historic sites for the Telfair Museums organization.</p>
<p>The Butler’s Pantry, as everything else in the house, is a work in progress. Bits and pieces of wood used in one room were found in other parts of the house. In this room, attached to the family dining room, conservators make educated guesses as to what was in the cabinets — by the height of the shelving, and by the locks on the doors (things frequently “walked” out of the house) and how those pieces may have been used.</p>
<p>“Old houses have a story,” notes master grainer Malcolm Robson, who has just completed restoring the Butler’s Pantry, his fourth project there since 2000.</p>
<p>Restoration of the Butler’s Pantry makes the Owens-Thomas House more site-specific, Sammons said. Completion of the approximately 150-square-foot room carries forward a furnishing plan that began two decades ago with a revised mission to “reinterpret the social history of all the people who lived at the Owens-Thomas House, both free and enslaved.” A lesser told story than plantation-based slavery, urban slaves spent time in the house, Sammons explained.</p>
<p>“This is an important space in telling that story,” he said.</p>
<p>It was the Butler’s Pantry that was the staging area for preparation, serving and cleaning up of family and more formal events, as well as the storing of equipment and dishes.</p>
<p>Robson’s revitalization of the new “on view” room includes plaster he painted, then wood-grained to look like oak and varnished with several coats (designed to hold up better than paint and to withstand mildew of the South.)</p>
<p>Doors — “showtime” entryways to the Butler’s Pantry — have been finished in imitation mahogany, a finer grain of wood than oak. Near the rear entryway to the Butler’s Pantry, and the back door of the house, Robson has grained an oval window frame to showcase the same mahogany colors. A portion of the wall in the Butler’s Pantry has been left exposed to reveal the house’s structure and use of tabby walls.</p>
<p>The Butler’s Pantry is thought to be the only such restored room in Savannah’s inventory of public historic buildings, and now will play a big part in the reinterpretation of the social history of the Owens-Thomas house.</p>
<p>Robson represents the fifth of six generations of family that has been graining and marbling since the 1870s in London. As a master grainer, Robson also is qualified for marbling and glazing of walls. He can do graining and marbling on any surface that’s been painted, transforming plaster surfaces with translucent striping, subtle stippling and turning ordinary lumber into “marble” baseboards and floors.</p>
<p>His first projects in Savannah were for the late Mills B. Lane IV, but he has worked on a number of other buildings here, including the Scarbrough-Ships of the Sea House and the Davenport House.</p>
<p>Robson has been involved in many of this country’s notable historic buildings, including the U.S. Capitol, buildings in Philadelphia, and the Hermitage in Tennessee. His projects in England include Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. But it is George Washington’s Mount Vernon home that he considers his most important work, not only for its detailed restoration but also “it helped me in my business. It’s been very good!”</p>
<p>For years, Robson has divided his time between Savannah and his home in Virginia, but now he is purchasing a home on Tybee Island and plans to live here in semi-retirement.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>HOUSE HISTORY</strong></p>
<p>The Owens-Thomas House, at 124 Abercorn St., was designed by noted English architect William Jay, who also designed the Telfair mansion Museum and the Scarbrough House. It took three years to complete (1816-19). Richard Richardson was the first owner. During the early years, (1819-1822) and continuously from 1830-1951, it was used as a home, and, from 1824-30, as a boarding house. The two front rooms, the most formal rooms in the house, are restored and furnished to the 1820s of the Richardson years.</p>
<p>In 1830, George Owens purchased the house and it continued to be used by his family until a granddaughter, Margaret Thomas, died in 1951. In memory of her father, James Thomas, and grandfather, George Welshman Owens, she bequeathed the house to the Telfair Museums. Other rooms in the house, including the Butler’s Pantry, are furnished to be reflective of the 1830s.</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-05-03/savannah-history-revived-owens-thomas-house-restoration#commentsAccentJane KahnEntertainmentHuman InterestSocial IssuesarchitectButlerButler's PantryCuratorEntertainmentFamily Dining RoomFamily RelationFood storageforwardGeography of GeorgiaGeography of the United StatesGeorge OwensGeorgiaHuman InterestMalcolm RobsonMargaret ThomasOwens-Thomas HousePantryPerson CareerPerson LocationpremierQuotationRoomsSavannah Morning NewsSavannah, GeorgiaSocial IssuesTania SammonsThe Butler's PantryWilliam JaySun, 04 May 2014 02:46:39 +0000Jane Kahn1058809 at http://savannahnow.comInternational dealings bring Mary Low back home to Savannahhttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-04-19/international-dealings-bring-mary-low-back-home-savannah
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13273827.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="194" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13273828.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="375" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13273829.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="419" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13273830.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="365" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/13273831.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="187" /></div><p>Mary Cowper Stiles Low has come home.</p>
<p>An exquisite oil painting of the second Mrs. Andrew Low, the only mistress of the home her cotton broker husband built in 1848, is now back in Savannah. It took serendipity, perseverance and luck to return it more than 140 years after it left.</p>
<p>Mary sat for the portrait in Paris, during the couple’s honeymoon to Europe in 1854, wearing, she wrote home, a “simple blue day dress” (of silk and ribbons and lace). Standing next to a pretty flower arrangement, the bride holds in her left hand what appears to be a single peony and glances slightly to the left and off the canvas.</p>
<p>Her portrait now joins one of a young and handsome Andrew Low hanging over the mantel in the front parlor of the Andrew Low House Museum. Andrew and Mary Cowper Stiles Low were the parents of William (Willie) Low, husband of Juliette Gordon (Daisy) Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts.</p>
<p>In 1863, nine years after their marriage and four children later, Mary died at the age of 30. Andrew continued to live here until after the Civil War. During the 1870s, distraught and grief-stricken, he moved, with Mary’s portrait and some furniture, back to London. He kept the house for his visits back to Savannah and eventually gave it to Willie and Daisy before their marriage.</p>
<p>The painting, by an unknown artist, had made its way to a London (Nottingham) gallery, and was offered for sale by Mrs. Low’s great-grandson, a resident of England. Its discovery and acquisition involved some quick thinking and quicker action by the Friends of the Andrew Low House, which is owned by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Georgia.</p>
<p>This story, it seems, began with an interest in genealogy and his wife’s family, known to have included one Andrew Low, by Dr. Ralph Hayes of British Columbia, Canada. While visiting friends last fall in England, Hayes came across a painting for sale in a Nottingham gallery. It was to be auctioned on Thanksgiving Day, less than two months later, by the London house of Mellors and Kirk.</p>
<p>Hayes noticed a plaque on the portrait: “Mary Cowper Stiles, wife of Andrew Low, Savannah, USA, mother of Mary Low Guthrie” (who was born in the Andrew Low house.) Out of curiosity, when he returned to Canada Hayes checked the Internet, where he discovered the other Andrew Low family, its prominence and its contributions to history.</p>
<p>There is no known relationship of the Andrew Low family of Savannah and the Canadians’ Low family. Ralph and Eileen Hayes had never heard of this Andrew Low. But Hayes immediately grasped the importance of the painting and its probable significance to the Andrew Low House in Savannah. He emailed information about his find to a listing on the House’s website.</p>
<p>“There is a portrait of Mary Cowper Stiles Low going up for auction in London,” Hayes emailed Savannah. “Are you interested?”</p>
<p>Andrew Low House Museum director Stephen Bohlin received the email the night of his birthday in late September. Immediately, he went to work. He contacted Alan Hunt, a retired Englishman and a Friend of the Andrew Low House, who does research in London for the museum.</p>
<p>The month of October was a busy one. They knew the painting would not be bought cheaply, but they did not feel they were looking at millions for its purchase. With an average donation of $50-1$00, within the month they felt they had enough money for a successful bid. They gave Hunt a top figure to work with.</p>
<p>On Thanksgiving morning, Bohlin was awakened by his cell phone: “We bought Mary,” Hunt announced.</p>
<p>In about two months — from initial contact until delivery — the portrait had been discovered, purchased with funds raised in near record time, and shipped back home to Savannah. An excited group of Friends of the Andrew Low House awaited it.</p>
<p>The money transfer was handled quickly. Transit time was a different story.</p>
<p>There was a computer glitch in England: Planes were not flying. When it got to the FedEx hub at Charles DeGaulle airport in Paris, there were several days of weather delays, and again, at the hub in Memphis. Expecting delivery for days and frustrated with computer tracking, an anxious Andrew Low House director literally stopped a FedEx driver he knew on the street to help with the international tracking. Finally, the day after Christmas, FedEx pulled up at the Andrew Low House on Abercorn Street, to be greeted by the staff.</p>
<p>A conservator from Columbus drove to Savannah, pronounced the painting in excellent condition, took it to her studio and cleaned and varnished the painting. Cost of the painting from the auction house, including packing and shipping was 8,400 British pounds, or the equivalent of about $10,000. Restoration was another $3,000.</p>
<p>This never could have happened without the determined organization of the Friends of the Andrew Low House. In 1976, they realized that so many furnishings and accoutrements of the home had left Savannah as the family moved away. They created a “purse” to acquire significant furnishings of the period.</p>
<p>“This portrait …is very significant to the Andrew Low House collection,” said the house museum’s director, Stephen Bohlin. “It is essentially a lost painting that has returned home, to be restored to its rightful place.”</p>
<p>Restored, but as yet unframed, that rightful place probably will be over the buffet in the dining room, said Alice Daily, Andrew Low House historian, a founding president of the Friends of the Andrew Low House, past furnishing chairman of the house, and a past president of the State Colonial Dames, which owns the house.</p>
<p>So pleased with their part of the fortuitous find, Dr. and Mrs. Hayes attended the welcome home party in February, their first trip to Savannah. It is doubtful, Bohlin said, that a connection between the two Andrew Low families will materialize.</p>
<p>The portrait has returned from England. But most of the furnishings had traveled to South Africa. Some of the pieces have been donated back to the museum. Others have been purchased. When they have been unable to reacquire original furnishings, they have secured authentic, museum-quality pieces true to the architectural style of the house at the time Andrew Low built it.</p>
<p>(With a proprietary understanding of the family and historical knowledge of the city, when a leather Sheraton chair belonging to a next-door neighbor and friend of Low, fellow cotton broker Octavus Cohen, showed up recently at auction in Boston, the acquisition committee set its sights, successfully, on bringing that chair home to the Andrew Low library. They are checking out upholstery fabrics now.)</p>
<p>“These goodies keep turning up,” said Daily, who has been at the forefront of acquisitions for the house since 1976.</p>
<p>“(The painting) is a wonderful acquisition, and totally unexpected.”</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>THE ANDREW LOW HOUSE</strong></p>
<p>Located at 329 Abercorn St., on a Trustee’s Lot on Lafayette Square</p>
<p>A three-story stucco-over-Savannah grey brick neo-classical building, designed by renowned architect John Norris for Andrew Low, a wealthy cotton factor (Norris also designed the U.S. Custom House)</p>
<p>Home of Andrew Low, 1849-1886</p>
<p>The Lows’ most famous guests was Gen. Robert E. Lee, godfather to their daughter, Jessie</p>
<p>Home of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts, 1886-1927</p>
<p>The Carriage House was given by Juliette Low to the Girl Scouts and is operated separately today as Girl Scout First Headquarters Museum</p>
<p>Purchased in 1928 by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Georgia for state headquarters</p>
<p>Opened as a house museum in 1952</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-04-19/international-dealings-bring-mary-low-back-home-savannah#commentsAccentJane KahnEntertainmentTechnologyLondonNottinghamParisSavannahFedExAmericaAndrew LowAndrew Low House MuseumartistBritish ColumbiabrokerCanadaDirectorEileen HayesEntertainmentEuropeFamily RelationGeography of GeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGirl Scouts of the USAJuliette Gordon (Daisy) LowJuliette Gordon LowJuliette Gordon Low Historic DistrictMary Cowper StilesMary LowMary Low GuthrieoilPerson AttributesPerson CareerPerson LocationPerson RelationQuotationRalph HayesSavannah Morning NewsSavannah, GeorgiaSS SavannahStephen BohlinTechnologyThanksgivingUnited KingdomUnited StatesUSDWilliam (Willie) LowSun, 20 Apr 2014 01:35:15 +0000Jane Kahn1057538 at http://savannahnow.comSavannah celebrating Pulaski's birthdayhttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-02-27/savannah-celebrating-pulaskis-birthday
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<p>Savannah, always a good party town, will celebrate the 269th birthday of one of her earliest heroes on Saturday. Happy Birthday, Brig. Gen. Casimir, or Kazimierz, Pulaski!</p>
<p>The events, complete with color guard, fife and drum, musket team and the laying of a wreath on Pulaski’s tomb, begin at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Pulaski Monument in Monterey Square, Bull and Gordon Streets. </p>
<p> Participating in the ceremony will be Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson; Camille Kopielski, president of the American Council for Polish Culture, as well as Edward Krolikowski, chairman of the Savannah General K. Pulaski Committee, and Joseph Warenzak, vice chairman of the committee, who participated in a similar observance here in 1958. The Savannah Arts Academy band will perform.</p>
<p>Spelled with a “K” as the new group does, or with a “C” as local traditionalists choose, the name Casimir Pulaski needs little identification in Savannah. After all, one of the area’s most visited tourist spots — Fort Pulaski, a national monument and guardian of the Savannah River — bears his name, as well as an elementary school, a historic downtown square and an obelisk monument in another.</p>
<p>Pulaski, founding commander of the U. S. Cavalry, died at the age of 34 on Oct. 11, 1779, during the Revolutionary War’s Siege of Savannah. The young member of Polish nobility — he also was known as Count Pulaski – had sympathized with the new nation’s struggle against oppression. He had been a freedom fighter in Poland and joined the American Revolutionary War at the behest of Benjamin Franklin. </p>
<p>In the battle that took his life, Pulaski commanded the entire cavalry, both French and American. Grapeshot from a British cannon mortally wounded him when he attempted to cross enemy lines, about a half-mile north of Monterey Square. The shot is on display at Georgia Historical Society. Subsequently, Pulaski was made an honorary United States citizen. </p>
<p>The ceremony here is sponsored by the Savannah General Pulaski Committee of the American Council for Polish Culture. This year, it will be the official ceremony of the national group. The local observance is a continuation of a traditional event started many years ago in Washington, D.C. Because of constraints with Homeland Security in a building housing the Pulaski statue in Washington, the American Council for Polish Culture has elected to move the celebration to open public space — the Pulaski Monument in Monterey Square in Savannah.</p>
<p>Guests from throughout the United States are expected to attend, including a large group from Florida. Groups in period costumes and uniforms will perform ceremonial activities, and will include recent immigrants in native Polish dress. Following the Monterey Square ceremony, a commemorative luncheon will be held at Johnny Harris Banquet facility, 170l E. Victory Drive. The public ceremony is free; tickets for the buffet luncheon are $35.</p>
<p>The mission of the General Pulaski Committee is “to highlight, promote and enhance the Polish culture, language, history and customs in the Savannah area,” similar to other ethnic groups here. According to Raymond Piechocki, director of publicity, the group wants to expand membership of people of Polish ancestry, but that is not a strict requirement: “Our membership is open to all who have an interest in Poland, its people and culture and a desire to be part of an interesting and fun loving group.” An immediate goal is to appropriately engrave Pulaski’s blank gravestone at the base of the monument.</p>
<p>The local Pulaski committee was formed last year and is similar to the Count Pulaski Club of Georgia that existed here during the 1950s and 1960s, in part due to the work of the late Savannah architect Lee Meyer. Many of the activities of Polish-Americans living in and around Savannah were informal and private. In 2005, a local group then called the Pulaski Society, was instrumental in the reburial of the Pulaski remains in Monterey Square.</p>
<p>Piechocki sees opportunities to expose Savannah to Polish culture through Polish dinners and dancing, as well as Polish observance of the many religious events throughout the year. Like many other ethnic groups, Piechocki says, “Poles and Polish-Americans are proud of the ancestry and the history and achievements here in the U.S. and on the world stage.” </p>
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<p />
<p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p>
<p>The Savannah General Pulaski Committee of the American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC) will be holding a ceremony in commemoration of Pulaski’s 269th birthday from 12:30 to 1 p.m. March 1 at Monterey Square, located at the corners of Bull and W. Gaston streets. The event is free and open to the public. For more information call 912-257-8565 or email <a href="mailto:savannahpulaski@comcast.net">savannahpulaski@comcast.net</a></p>
<p>The committee meets at 6:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at St. James Catholic Church. Find more information at <a href="http://www.savannahgeneralpulaski.org" title="www.savannahgeneralpulaski.org">www.savannahgeneralpulaski.org</a>.</p>
</p>
</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2014-02-27/savannah-celebrating-pulaskis-birthday#commentsAccentJane KahnPoliticsSavannahAmerican CouncilBrig. Gen.Bull StreetsCamille KopielskiCasimir PulaskiCasimir PulaskiCasimir Pulaski DayCavalrychairmanCommanderContact DetailsEdna JacksonEdward KrolikowskiElementary SchoolFort PulaskiFort Pulaski National MonumentFranklinGeneralGeography of GeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGordon StreetsguardJoseph WarenzakK. PulaskimayorMonterey SquarePerson CareerPolandPolish diasporaPolish nobilityPoliticspresidentPulaskiPulaski Day ParadePulaski monumentRaymond PiechockiSavannah Morning NewsSavannah, GeorgiaSiege of SavannahUnited Statesvice chairmanFri, 28 Feb 2014 02:20:50 +0000Jane Kahn1052490 at http://savannahnow.comJewish soldiers get special tributehttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-11-07/jewish-soldiers-get-special-tribute
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<p>Congregation Mickve Israel will pay tribute to Jews who have served in the military at special patriotic Shabbat services honoring Veterans Day. Services will begin at 11 a.m. Nov. 9 at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum Chapel on Bourne Avenue in Pooler.</p>
<p>Jewish men and women have served in every branch of the military, in every war, throughout history, said Rabbi Robert Haas. </p>
<p>“We honor them for their service,” he said.</p>
<p>Both retired and current military have been invited to participate.</p>
<p>Mickve Israel has on permanent loan a Torah — a sacred scroll containing the first five books of the Bible — rescued during World War II from a synagogue in Slany, now the Czech Republic. Mickve Israel has chosen Veterans Day weekend to rededicate its Holocaust Torah, newly repaired and made kosher. </p>
<p>“Because of our connection to the Torah,” said Haas, the Mighty Eighth Chapel “feels like the right place to do it.” </p>
<p>A remarkable set of circumstances recently has linked both Congregation Mickve Israel and Savannah’s Mighty Eighth Air Force to the town of Slany. During World War II, a B-17 bomber from the Mighty Eighth crashed near the airport in Slany. </p>
<p>In appreciation for the Eighth Air Force’s contributions to winning the war in Europe, the town of Slany has incorporated the wrecked tail section of the plane, with Eighth Air Force markings as a memorial. When it crashed, the B-17 was headed to Bohlen, Germany, to destroy several fuel plants.</p>
<p>The Mighty Eighth was activated Jan. 28, 1942, and is credited with a major role in World War II in Europe.</p>
<p>Mickve Israel since 1968 has been custodian of the Czech Torah, one of 1,564 saved from Jewish communities wiped out in the Holocaust. Organizations who participate in the memorial scroll trust read from their rescued Torah weekly, to honor the Jews no longer able to read it themselves. </p>
<p>During the 14th and 15th centuries there was a small Jewish community in Slany, which in 1458 was expelled. In the first half of the 19th century the Jewish community was re-established, and a synagogue built in 1865. </p>
<p>In 1890 the Jewish population was 290; it dwindled to 85 by 1930; in 1942 the 81 remaining Jews were deported to death camps in Terezin. There is no Jewish presence there today.</p>
</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-11-07/jewish-soldiers-get-special-tribute#commentsAccentJane KahnHuman InterestReligionSlanyCongregation Mickve IsraelCzech RepublicGeorgiaHuman InterestMighty Eighth Air Force Museum ChapelMighty Eighth ChapelPerson CareerQuotationRabbiReligionRobert Haasthe Savannah Morning NewsTorahVeteran's DayFri, 08 Nov 2013 03:33:10 +0000Jane Kahn1044342 at http://savannahnow.comBelly up for Shalom Y'allhttp://savannahnow.com/do/2013-10-24/belly-shalom-yall
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12683672.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="222" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12683674.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="210" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12683671.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="334" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12683673.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="202" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12683676.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="190" /></div><p><em>T</em>he Shalom Y’all Jewish Food Festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary year.</p>
<p>Set for Oct. 27 in Forsyth Park, the annual fest is sponsored by Savannah’s historic Congregation Mickve Israel. From small beginnings in Monterey Square, the Jewish Food Festival has become one of Savannah’s signature events. </p>
<p>No longer strictly a Mickve Israel event, it is supported by volunteers and contributors from the entire community. With Jewish delicacies such as blintzes and stuffed cabbage rolls, the menu includes the ever-popular Jewish delicatessen booth — sandwiches while you wait.</p>
<p>It introduces all of Savannah to the Jewish culture, and festival leaders believe, contributes to greater community relations. </p>
<p>The holiday booth showcases traditional foods that are part of Jewish observances: latkes for Hanukkah, Hamantaschen for Purim, apples and honey for the New Year, matzo ball soup for Passover and Challah for the Sabbath. </p>
<p>Musical entertainment will be provided by a trio from the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the Velvet Caravan Klezmer Group playing gypsy swing. </p>
<p>Congregation Mickve Israel, the third oldest synagogue in the United States, is celebrating its 280th anniversary this year. </p>
<p>The event began 25 years ago as simply the Jewish Food Festival, brought from New Orleans by Joan Levy when she moved back home. It took place in historic Monterey Square, the “home” square that fronts Mickve Israel. </p>
<p>Soon, it was renamed the Hard Lox Café, which it remained until the owners of the international Hard Rock Café chain protested the play on its copyrighted name. </p>
<p>In 2000, Carol Greenberg headed a group that recognized it had outgrown the confines of Monterey Square. It was a short two-block move to Forsyth Park, but the change in scope was huge. </p>
<p>It is a mammoth undertaking — 1,200 kosher hot dogs, 1,700 homemade blintzes, 500 stuffed cabbage rolls and some 1,000 pounds of meats (deli, chopped liver, Sephardic lamb and brisket.) </p>
<p>And it’s been a success, because year after year for 25 years, many of the same volunteers have planned it, tweaked it, cooked it and produced it. They know what works and what doesn’t.</p>
<p>That first year, there were no sponsors. </p>
<p>“We didn’t know what we were doing,” said Dr. Barbara Bart with a laugh. She was one of the early chairwomen, and has worked in some capacity every year since its inception. </p>
<p>She has always run the blintzes booth. (That reign comes to an end this year, as she passes the blintz baton to longtime volunteer Mires “Bubba” Rosenthal.) </p>
<p>Cathy Solomons “always bakes Challah.” How long? “I don’t know. Always.” </p>
<p>“This is a major community event,” said Toby Hollenberg, president of Congregation Mickve Israel. “We are appreciative of all who come out each year to enjoy and support it.”</p>
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<p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p>
<p><strong>What: </strong>Shalom Y’all Jewish Food Festival</p>
<p><strong>When:</strong> 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 27</p>
<p><strong>Where:</strong> Forsyth Park</p>
<p><strong>Cost:</strong> $1 food tickets</p>
<p><strong>Info:</strong> mickveisrael.org/food-festival.html</p>
</p>
http://savannahnow.com/do/2013-10-24/belly-shalom-yall#commentsDoJane KahnNew OrleansCongregation Mickve IsraelVelvet Caravan Klezmer GroupBarbara BartBlintzChallahChanukahCongregation Mickve IsraelFood and drinkForsyth ParkGeography of GeorgiaGeorgiaJewish cuisineJewish cultureJOAN LEVYMonterey SquareNew Year's DayPassoverPerson CareerPurimQuotationSavannah, GeorgiaShalomUnited StatesThu, 24 Oct 2013 04:16:04 +0000Jane Kahn1043238 at http://savannahnow.comSavannah faithful ready for Rosh Hashana's New Yearhttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-08-30/savannah-faithful-ready-rosh-hashanas-new-year
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12564580.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="210" /></div><p />
<p>At sundown Wednesday, Jews in Savannah will join Jews around the world to usher in the New Year. That’s 5744 in the Jewish calendar and has been celebrated for more than 3,000 years. </p>
<p>It is a time of renewal and a time of introspection, according to Savannah’s three pulpit rabbis, a time for commitment to God, to the Jewish faith, to each other. It’s a time to make the world a better place.</p>
<p>Rosh Hashanah “kicks off three of our major holidays, our holy season,” explains Congregation Mickve Israel’s Rabbi Robert Haas. It’s not about one focus, not just one holiday, but the holy day season, he says. </p>
<p>Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the New Year, observed beginning Sept. 4, through Sept. 5-6 (for one or two days) followed with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on the eve of Sept. 13 and 14 and Sukkot, the preparation of the harvest, on the eve of Sept. 18 and 19-20.</p>
<p>“All are essential parts of our holiday season, reflecting who we are and how we relate to each other,” Haas said.</p>
<p>Congregation Bnai Brith Jacob Rabbi Avigdor Slatus continues: “We look at the past as we reflect upon what can be improved — our character as human beings in our relationship with man and God. Rosh Hashanah is a day of prayer, a sacred solemn day which enables us to appreciate the remarkable gift of life that God bestows upon us that all too often we take for granted.”</p>
<p>For Jews it is the holiest time of the year and was first mentioned in the Bible in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The Jewish calendar is based on the lunar calendar and, with exceptions, Rosh Hashanah falls on the first sighting of the new moon. This year, the eve of Sept. 4 is the earliest Rosh Hashanah can fall. It happened in 1899 and it’s happening again this year. </p>
<p>Rosh Hashanah is a serious anticipation of the New Year. It is symbolized by the sounding of the shofar, the ram’s horn, intended to awaken listeners and alert them to the coming judgment. Often it is symbolized with the eating of apples, dipped in honey, toward a “sweet new year.” </p>
<p>The power of the High Holy Days is tradition, says Rabbi Reuven Barkan of Congregation Agudath Achim, specifically, tradition to honor family and a commitment to Jewish identity. Rosh Hashanah is the time of the year to be “written in the book of life, and also the book of death” and many find inspiration in confronting these issues. Others, Barkan finds, are “three times a year” seekers who want to “give Judaism a shot” and question their religion. It is a mitzvah (good deed) to attend synagogue during the high holy days. </p>
<p>Rosh Hashanah is the traditional holiday, the beginning of the New Year, a part of our calendar, says Marion Mendel, whose Jewish roots in Savannah go back to the original Jewish settlers. </p>
<p>“That’s what Judaism is — tradition,” says Riette Pollack, also a native Savannahian. “Every family celebrates together. Out-of-town family members come to town. It’s a tradition you enjoy. Jewish people all over the world will be blowing the shofar. They will be saying the same prayers. It’s been the tradition from generation to generation. We are keeping the same tradition alive. That’s what we do.”</p>
<p>Some secular Jews with close ties to Savannah traditionally find inspiration with nature and plan their holiday observance around organized religious services at a lake, or meditation alone at a beach.</p>
<p>Savannah’s High Holy Day observance has changed. </p>
<p>“We represent the assimilation of America,” says Adam Solender, executive director of the Savannah Jewish Federation and the Jewish Educational Alliance. “It doesn’t mean we’re not observant.”</p>
<p>In years leading up to the mid-20th century, Savannah’s commerce literally shut down on the Jewish holidays. Most of the downtown merchants — Broughton Street and West Broad Street — and local grocers were Jewish and many stores closed for two days at Rosh Hashanah. </p>
<p>That changed with independent Jewish establishments going out of business or absorbed by national chains. Many commercial establishments remain open 24 hours, and in many cases non-Jewish employees man the store on Jewish holidays. Even on Rosh Hashanah this year, as on Easter and Christmas, local churches and synagogues offer baby-sitting services to each other). </p>
<p>“We’re here to help each other,” Solender says. “It’s a wonderful time of the year to take stock of where we are and who we are.”</p>
<p>For Helese and Dan Sandler, Rosh Hashanah is a tradition within a tradition. </p>
<p>“It’s how we grew up.” The Sandlers moved 23 years ago to Savannah from South Africa, where the entire family always got together to observe the New Year in what Helese believes is a more traditional and spiritual culture. </p>
<p>Many immigrated to the United States, and picked up where they left off, assembling in Washington, D.C. at the New Year. There are 22 of Sandlers’ immediate family, but usually 50 or more extended family and friends, most with South African ties, who join in the nation’s capital for observance of Rosh Hashanah — synagogue worship and family reunion. (To continue their tradition, the entire Sandler family reconvenes in Savannah in the spring to celebrate Passover together).</p>
<p>“The memory of the past directs and purifies our present as it prepares us for the coming year and future,” says Slatus.</p>
</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-08-30/savannah-faithful-ready-rosh-hashanas-new-year#commentsAccentJane KahnBusinessEducationLaborLawCongregation Mickve IsraelAvigdor SlatusBusinessChristian observances of Yom KippurEducationElulEmorHarvestHebrew calendarHigh Holy DaysJacob Rabbi AvigdorJewish cultureJewish holidayLaborLawMajorNew Year's DayPerson CareerQuotationRabbiReuven BarkanRobert HaasRosh HashanahRosh HashanahShofarSukkotTen Days of Repentancethe Savannah Morning NewsUsherYom KippurYom KippurSat, 31 Aug 2013 02:25:35 +0000Jane Kahn1039212 at http://savannahnow.comBennie Mitchell III hosting 'It Is Well' party, fundraiser Saturdayhttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-06-20/bennie-mitchell-iii-hosting-it-well-party-fundraiser-saturday
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12357105.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="210" /></div><p />
<p>Bennie Mitchell III, Savannah entrepreneur, has the technical know-how to produce a documentary film. </p>
<p>By legacy of his own name, he has the connections. </p>
<p>He has boxes of tapes, records, photographs and notes accumulated by his father and namesake, Bennie Mitchell Jr., civil rights activist, community leader, and for 37 years, pastor of an influential westside Savannah church.</p>
<p>He has the memories of a son whose father had met and known the likes of civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Joseph Lowery, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and former Atlanta Mayor, Congressman and U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young. </p>
<p>Mainly, he has the motivation to keep alive his dad’s vision and pass along his teachings.</p>
<p>The younger Mitchell, who prefers the career designation “artist,” is producing a 60-minute documentary, “It Is Well,” about the life and accomplishments of his father and the shaping of the civil rights movement in Savannah during the last quarter of the 20th century. </p>
<p>Seeking to finance the final $50,000 in production costs, the filmmaker has organized a fundraiser from 6-9 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of the Con-Ed building of Connor’s Temple Baptist Church, 714 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (He already has spent $285,000 in personal resources for the work.)</p>
<p>The filmmaker chose “It Is Well” for the title “because I feel that the work Daddy did, he is satisfied with. </p>
<p>“He might not have accomplished all he wanted to, but he did the best he could do with the time God gave him. Everything is well with his soul,” he said. That hymn was the last the father/son team recorded together in 2007.</p>
<p>The official trailer for the film will be introduced at the fundraiser. </p>
<p>Tickets are $25, and include a Lowcountry boil and barbecue dinner. Commemorative CDs, lapel pins and other memorabilia will be available. </p>
<p>A scholarship will be awarded to a high school graduate for the best one-page essay about Mitchell Jr.’s life.</p>
<p>Target date for completion is the end of the year, with the opening screening expected to coincide with the three-year-anniversary of his father’s death, Feb. 1, 2011.</p>
<p>Bennie Mitchell Jr. was a legend in Savannah. He was born in Edgefield, S.C., attended Benedict College and graduated from Morehouse School of Religion, where he became fascinated with the political process and the black movement at the time, in 1971-73. </p>
<p>With the encouragement and blessing of Dr. Martin Luther King Sr., the young minister applied for a job at Connor’s Temple Baptist Church. </p>
<p>From there, he performed his work for 37 years — in politics, in community service, in the church, especially with the youth — until his death.</p>
<p>“He was an outstanding preacher and teacher,” said his son. </p>
<p>When the younger Mitchell was 12 years old, his mother, Betty, gave her husband a camera for Christmas. </p>
<p>“I waited two days for him to use it ... Then it was mine!” </p>
<p>Through the years, the son photographed the father, but, sadly, he said did not shoot any videos during the summers of his high school years when he traveled with his father, including a trip to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with the Rev. Joseph Lowery.</p>
<p>While known throughout the area as a political power broker, Mitchell Jr.’s most visible accomplishments include the successful efforts to establish Savannah’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, the naming of the street in honor of King and the purchase of the old West Broad Street YMCA and its development into a three-story educational and social services community facility.</p>
<p>Already, Mitchell III has spent two years in pre-production and production of the film. He will move temporarily to Los Angeles for the final months of post-production. </p>
<p>Included in the documentary will be interviews with Mitchell Jr., and film clips of him with politicians and leaders on the local, county, state and national scenes. </p>
<p>“If it hadn’t been me,” the soft-spoken Mitchell Jr. says on screen, “It would have been someone else.” </p>
<p>In the film, the younger Mitchell records his father’s discussion of his mission “to make our community better. I want everybody to feel good about it — whether they were on the right side or the wrong side.”</p>
<p>It was in 2007 that the artist son realized he wanted to compile “everything I had on my father.” </p>
<p>He had graduated in 2001 from Savannah College of Art and Design with a degree in film/video design and a minor in sound design, had worked in the industry in New York and Atlanta. </p>
<p>In 2004, it occurred to the younger Mitchell that if he was in Georgia and “this close to home, I might as well be home.” </p>
<p>It was, he said, a blessing in disguise that he was fired from a cellphone company where he had worked for three years. </p>
<p>“I knew I wanted to do something, but I didn’t know what,” he said. </p>
<p>“Never,” he emphasized with a smile, would that have been to follow in his preacher father’s footsteps.</p>
<p>He had recorded music in the style of hip-hop, rhythm and blues, and some rock ‘n’ roll. </p>
<p>In Savannah, he founded his business, BRiM Audio Inc., a sound recording studio. </p>
<p>The pair’s first effort as father and son, as minister and engineer, was a studio recording of “A Bright Side.” </p>
<p>Everything fell into place. His mother had collected videotapes of Martin Luther King Jr. observances and activities from the late 1980s, as well as video recordings of his father’s sermons the young Mitchell had “punched” since he was 10 years old. </p>
<p>Now it became the son’s mission “to find anything I had done with my father.” </p>
<p>He has more than 2,000 recordings of sermons, with 1,300 already catalogued. </p>
<p>After his father’s death in 2011, the family began unpacking boxes. </p>
<p>He is in the process of transferring everything from analog to digital technology. </p>
<p>The film’s title, “It Is Well” is based on well-loved church music and will include the pastor’s own soulful rendition of the hymn. </p>
<p>The tribute, written by a daughter, to be presented Saturday reads, “Reverend Bennie R. Mitchell Jr. served as pastor of Connor’s Temple Baptist Church for 37 years. He was a leader within the African-American religious community and a tireless advocate for those least well-served in our community.”</p>
<p />
<p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p>
<p><strong>What: </strong>‘It Is Well’ party/fundraiser</p>
<p><strong>When: </strong>6-9 p.m. Saturday </p>
<p><strong>Where: </strong>Con-ED Parking Lot, 714 Martin Luther King Junior Blvd.</p>
</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-06-20/bennie-mitchell-iii-hosting-it-well-party-fundraiser-saturday#commentsAccentJane KahnEntertainmentSocial IssuesTechnologyAtlantaEdgefieldambassadorAndrew YoungAnglican saintsartistBaptist ChurchBenedict CollegeBenedict CollegeBENNIE MITCHELL IIIBennie Mitchell Jr.ChristianityCommunity organizingEd building of Connor's Temple Baptist ChurchEntertainmentEntrepreneurFamily RelationfinancefundraiserIt Is WellJesse JacksonJoseph LowerykingKingLuther King Jr.Martin LutherMartin Luther KingMartin Luther King Jr.Martin Luther King Sr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Sr.Mayor , CongressmanministerMitchell IIIMitchell JrMitchell Jr.Person AttributesPerson CareerPerson LocationProtestantismQuotationSavannah Morning NewsSavannah, GeorgiaSocial IssuesSouth CarolinaTechnologyTemple Baptist ChurchUnited StatesUSDFri, 21 Jun 2013 01:35:50 +0000Jane Kahn1034103 at http://savannahnow.comSCAD students shoot for equestrian victorieshttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-05-03/scad-students-shoot-equestrian-victories
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12191640.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="194" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12191641.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="420" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12191642.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="184" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12191644.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="233" /></div><p>Mounted on a horse he had never ridden, relying on himself and his training, Michael Kocher is representing the Savannah College of Art and Design at a national equestrian championship this weekend in Harrisburg, Pa.</p>
<p>He is competing for the prestigious Cacchione Cup at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championship. He qualified earlier this year, winning first and second places in regional competition.</p>
<p>It’s just Michael, his precision and communication with the horse. He is being judged on his appearance and how he handles the horse, dependent upon his own physical strength, his mental skills and his emotional control.</p>
<p>And he is only a college freshman.</p>
<p>As he approached the show, Michael described himself as generally easygoing and low key. But, he admits to occasional frustrations, knowing well that it is important that the rider “keep a cool head” in competition.</p>
<p>Horses are assigned randomly — riders must be disciplined, experienced with all kinds of horses and horse temperaments, and skilled. Each is riding for two professional judges, competing in the finals with equestrians from around the country. While competition plays a role in the 300-member IHSA, emphasis is on learning, sportsmanship and fun, with student enthusiasm and team spirit major objectives.</p>
<p>Michael, from Tryon, N.C., grew up with horses and has been riding since he was 12 years old.</p>
<p>He has declared a major in sound design, and a minor in equestrian studies. He sees horses as his lifelong career, but realizes he needs a fallback as horseback riding can be a dangerous sport. Even his sound design specialization can have an equestrian slant as it can lead to careers in horse photography, horse videography, horse training, equestrian administration, horse show events, business manager, artist and journalist.</p>
<p>Accompanying Michael to the show is Katherine Cameron, a junior from Sterling, Va., and captain of the 35-member SCAD Equestrian team, and Ashley Kelly, head SCAD coach who has been at the college since her student years of 2001-2005, and has coached championship teams and individual riders. Her degree is in metals and jewelry.</p>
<p>This is the third consecutive year SCAD has qualified for this national show. Last year’s entry — Kels Bonham, BA, equestrian studies, 2012 — took first place, representing the only Georgia college to have produced a winner. SCAD is the only Georgia college that has qualified for this year’s Caccionne Cup competition.</p>
<p>Thirty-eight riders are participating in the two-phase competition, “flat” and “fence.” They are being judged on “equitation” — requirements that the rider have a great physique, athletic posture, balance, form and position.</p>
<p>Katherine, who is majoring in photography and equestrian studies, believes SCAD’s program is “a great training ground for riders. Anybody can ride — every level can participate.” Both Michael and Katherine came to SCAD specifically for its equestrian program.</p>
<p>Most equestrian students’ academic classes — horse-related or not — are held at the 80-acre (and growing) Equestrian Center four miles outside of Savannah in South Carolina. Regular SCAD transportation services the center. Participants must maintain a 3.0 grade-point average. Michael’s current academic load includes math, music theory and color theory in addition to one lesson a week with the coach, a 6 a.m. weekly session as a team and riding every day at 2 p.m.</p>
<p>The SCAD South Carolina facility of grass paddocks and pasture and two barns offers a “hands-on environment to prepare for future professional positions in equine industries.” That’s according to the website, but in a (fabulous) SCAD style that people in Savannah have grown to expect, it is nothing less than remarkable.</p>
<p>The SCAD equestrians point to the “incredible” support from the Savannah community, the SCAD boards and advisers. Equestrian sports has been on the varsity level at SCAD since 1998.</p>
<p>“We’re primarily an art school,” they say, hoping that America will understand “the legitimacy of the (equestrian) sport.”</p>
<p>On a beautiful spring day last week, in a last-minute workout before the competition, Michael, riding Gunter, and Katherine, riding Ducati, on flats and on jumps, demonstrated their talents, their accomplishments, their expertise, and especially, their enthusiasm, for their chosen careers.</p>
<p>In Harrisburg this weekend, the results depend on all of this, on a cool presentation before the judges, and on the luck of the draw.</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-05-03/scad-students-shoot-equestrian-victories#commentsAccentLatest NewsJane KahnTechnologyHarrisburgTryonThe SCAD South CarolinaAshley Kellybusiness manager , artist and journalistcoachEquestrian sportsEquestrianismEquitationEventingGeorgiaHorse showIntercollegiate Horse Show AssociationKatherine CameronMajorMichael KocherNorth CarolinaPennsylvaniaPerson CareerPerson LocationRecreationSavannah College of ArtSavannah College of Art and DesignSportsTechnologythe Savannah Morning NewsThe Sun ConferenceUnited States Equestrian TeamSat, 04 May 2013 02:42:19 +0000Jane Kahn1030343 at http://savannahnow.comA Savannah gathering to find spiritual common groundhttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-04-27/savannah-gathering-find-spiritual-common-ground
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12166436.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12166431.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12166435.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12166430.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12166434.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/12166432.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /></div><p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>A group of Savannah clergy and lay people has embarked on a simple, yet ambitious, plan to foster a spirituality in their “religious” beliefs that seeks to embrace people of a variety of faiths.</p>
<p>The concept — an interdenominational approach to spirituality — would focus on common goals for a more satisfying existence. The group envisions stimulating critical thinking about religion and its role in society, a “non-anxious journey” beyond narrow, dogmatic religious belief.</p>
<p>An interfaith community event will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Memorial University Medical Center, in the medical education auditorium in the main building, (across from Georgia Eye Institute). Leaders selected a “neutral,” or non-religious, location to encourage community-wide participation. The 1½ hour session will explore ideas in the development of spirituality, and planners suggest, would be “a model for our community.”</p>
<p>The local group is forming under the working title, “The Gathering,” but is patterned on a larger label, “The Emerging Church.” A planning session was held last month at Asbury Memorial United Methodist Church under the guidance of Asbury minister the Rev. Billy Hester, who has been at the forefront of innovative programming in local religious circles since his return here in 1993. Hester will moderate “The Gathering’s” panel discussion.</p>
<p>Hester described the undertaking as a “whole other way to experience faith.” The planning group includes clergy from several local Methodist churches, as well as from Episcopalian, Presbyterian and Unitarian churches and lay leaders representing some of these groups.</p>
<p>It is believed to be a program unique to Savannah. One of the clergy organizers noted that Savannah has always enjoyed an interfaith dialogue, since its founding in 1733.</p>
<p>A.L. Addington, Ph.D., lay leader and Sunday school teacher at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church at Skidaway Island, has been instrumental in formation of “The Gathering.” He is founding dean of the college of business at Valdosta State University, but 14 years ago retired to Savannah, where he serves as consultant to the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. (Coincidentally, Addington and Hester have known each other since both were at Valdosta State University.)</p>
<p>Addington said the group’s aim is to focus on the spirituality aspects of religion. It is an outgrowth of “January Adventure” workshops conducted at Epworth by the Sea at St. Simons Island and attended for several years by many area Methodists and Episcopalians. A similar group established among congregations in Savannah would be the next logical step, Hester said, encouraging “contemplative prayer for an understanding of where we’re coming from and to get along better.”</p>
<p>The workshop will be based on the teachings of Father Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation. He attempts to show how life’s failures can be the foundation for ongoing spiritual growth. Rohr believes “there is a way of seeing that brings incredible freedom and creativity into our lives — we find that we don’t have to hate, resent and fearfully protect what we so desperately hold onto.”</p>
<p>Rohr says, “It’s not about being right. It’s about being connected.”</p>
<p>Addington believes it is easier to understand something when you are aware of the literature and thinking of spiritual people.</p>
<p>The group also uses the teachings of Marcus J. Borg, professor of religion and culture at Oregon State University, who believes “how we see is to a large extent the product of what we have seen.”</p>
<p>Borg cites that “Christians in North America today … live in a time of major conflict in the church. Among issues locally is a concern about the inclusion of women in church hierarchy and in the treatment of gays and lesbians.</p>
<p>Addington explains the new thinking holds that life is divided into two halves — religion, for the first half of life, establishes who you are, and spirituality, for the second half, offers an open dialogue on compassion and values.</p>
<p>By offering experiences from their study and from earlier workshops, Hester and Addington hope to direct Savannah participants to understand the nature of spiritual development and to demonstrate that there is a different way of being religious. They seek to offer a more open dialogue on spiritual values, and hope to initiate workshops and study groups within each church.</p>
<p>“First we will come together; then we can have the talk,” Addington says.</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-04-27/savannah-gathering-find-spiritual-common-ground#commentsAccentJane KahnReligionTechnologyA.L. AddingtonBilly HesterCatholic spiritualityChristian theologyChristianityEmerging churchGeorgiaGeorgia Eye InstituteInterfaith dialogIntersectionalityMemorial University Medical CenterMethodismministermodel for our community.Person CareerPerson LocationProtestantismQuotationReligionReligious pluralismRichard RohrSavannah Morning NewsSpiritualityTechnologyThe GatheringUnited Methodist ChurchSun, 28 Apr 2013 01:52:32 +0000Jane Kahn1029827 at http://savannahnow.comBirthright program sends young Savannahians to Israel for the first timehttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-02-08/birthright-program-sends-young-savannahians-israel-first-time
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/11967868.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="167" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/11967869.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="373" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/11967870.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /></div><p>Former Savannah Sand Gnats relief pitcher Jeremy Gould was so impressed with his trip in December with Birthright Israel that he extended his stay by five days.</p>
<p>“It was an awesome exchange experience. I will be back,” he said. “I don’t know when, but I will be back.”</p>
<p>That seems to be the consensus, as well as a goal, for the Birthright participants and the Birthright organization.</p>
<p>Since its beginnings 13 years ago, more than 100 young people from the Savannah area have participated in Taglit-Birthright Israel (the official name — Taglit means discovery), an expense-paid, 10-day educational trip to Israel. Founded on the belief that it is the birthright of all young Jews to visit their ancestral homeland, its goal is to “make an educational trip an integral part of the life of every young Jew.” It is acclaimed as the model one-of-a-kind ethnic, religious and cultural program and has hosted nearly 400,000 young people from 62 countries around the world.</p>
<p>Virtually all participants have the same reactions. Savannahian and University of Georgia senior Barney Sadler summed up his trip last summer as “definitely one of the best trips I have ever taken, as I was able to experience the beauty of Israel in such different ways and to see the effects it has on young Jews.” In addition, Sadler said, “The experiences of sleeping in Bedouin tents taught me about diverse cultures and people.”</p>
<p>It takes time to seep in. Even 13 years later, Savannah photographer Becky Smith says she still has the images of “that amazing country, 3,000 years old, coming up in my mind.”</p>
<p>The requirements for the program are simple and straightforward: Qualified young Jewish adults must be between the ages of 18 and 26, and the student must never have traveled to Israel on a peer education trip or study program, nor lived in Israel past the age of 12. Registration for this summer begins Feb. 13 online (<a href="http://www.birthrightisrael.com" title="www.birthrightisrael.com">www.birthrightisrael.com</a>) and probably will be open for a week or less because of the tremendous popularity of the program. Participants frequently are drawn from a waitlist.</p>
<p>Elle Byck of Savannah, a junior at the University of Georgia who had applied for the winter program, has her eye on the calendar to resubmit her application. She wants to visit the people, learn of her culture, her background and “explore my roots in that amazing place with people of similar interests and at similar stages of our lives.”</p>
<p>That fits Birthright’s objectives to strengthen each participant’s identification as a Jew, to build an understanding, friendship and lasting bond with the land and people of Israel, and to reinforce the solidarity of the Jewish people worldwide. If they could increase their financial level of support, Birthright officials say, they would open it up to more.</p>
<p>Gould, who played last summer at Grayson Stadium with the Sand Gnats, has recently signed as a relief pitcher with the San Diego Padres. His Birthright Israel participation was an outgrowth of pitching for Team Israel (“It was a really good team”) last fall at the World Baseball Classics in Jupiter, Fla. Waitlisted previously, Gould and a friend from the Dodgers organization applied for Birthright Israel and were awarded spots for this past December tour.</p>
<p>Every day was a completely different experience, Gould said. Of all the usual activities visitors do in Israel — visits to Jewish national, archeological and historical sites, to the Holocaust remembrance site — Gould says his most memorable experience was the Dead Sea.</p>
<p>“Swimming — well, not really — it is impossible to swim in the Dead Sea, and looking up, it was really awesome to see the Israeli Air Force training flights overhead, every five minutes, and to look across and see Jordan and Saudi Arabia.”</p>
<p>Like so many others, Gould was among the visitors who placed a personal note in the crevices of the Western Wall.</p>
<p>Savannah UGA student Sarah Hirsch, on a Birthright trip last May, had difficulty describing her experience seeing and touching the Western Wall.</p>
<p>“Not only did it connect me to every part of my past and to the country as a whole, but it also opened my eyes to my Jewish identity in the present,” she said. “The notion that someone stood exactly where my feet were and prayed for his or her life or that of another caused me to cry openly.”</p>
<p>Gould found everyone extremely welcoming. Said Hirsch: “I cannot even count the number of times I got goose bumps from strangers walking up to our group and exclaiming with the utmost sincerity, ‘Birthright? Welcome home!’”</p>
<p>Some 20 organizations in Israel run the trips and provide 40-person capacity buses with a tour educator on board. According to Birthright officials, five to 10 of each group are Israeli counterparts, the same age as the visiting participants. In Israel, in the 18- to 26-age bracket, they are either college students or fulfilling their required military services. But they, too, are new to many of the experiences, and they, too are learning of their own heritage. For many participants, this diversity within the groups provided their most meaningful experience.</p>
<p>Gould was born in Illinois, went to school in Houston, is a graduate of Duke and lives in Chicago now. As for his Sand Gnats tenure in Savannah, Gould says “the city was great. I wish I could have stayed longer.” While he and his baseball colleague limited their ball-playing in Israel to catch on the beach, they did give an Israeli soldier a baseball glove!</p>
<p>Taglit-Birthright Israel is a unique, historical and innovative partnership between the government of Israel, thousands of individual donors and private philanthropists and Jewish communities around the world through the Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Agency for Israel.</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-02-08/birthright-program-sends-young-savannahians-israel-first-time#commentsAccentJane KahnEducationAsiaBarney SadlerBECKY SMITHBirthright IsraelBirthright IsraelContact DetailsEducationGeorgiaIsraelIsraelIsrael–United States relationsJacobJeremy GouldJewish Agency for IsraelofficialPerson AttributesPerson CareerPerson LocationphotographerPitcherQuotationSarah HirschSavannah Morning NewsSavannah, GeorgiaStephen Jay GouldTourism in IsraelUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of GeorgiaWestern Asiawww.birthrightisrael.comZionismZionist youth movementsSat, 09 Feb 2013 03:21:32 +0000Jane Kahn1023282 at http://savannahnow.comFor Savannah woman, Hanukkah is about family, food and funhttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2012-12-07/savannah-woman-hanukkah-about-family-food-and-fun
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/11790626.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/11790627.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/11790633.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="422" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/11790629.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/11790631.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/11790628.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="186" /></div><p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, begins tonight at sundown with the lighting of the menorah. It is a minor holiday — a “fun” holiday — in the Jewish tradition.</p>
<p>The lighting of the candles on the nine-branch candelabra begins small — a shamash (or lead) candle and one lone candle. Each night another candle is added, until it culminates with a blazing menorah eight days later.</p>
<p>Traditionally, Hanukkah will begin with the consumption of a delicious holiday meal, usually centered around latkes, or potato pancakes, and the giving of gifts — one per night — maybe the spinning of the dreidel (top) and the singing of some songs.</p>
<p>AM Goldkrand, a gracious Savannah resident for 25 years now, has endeared herself to her adopted home. Like everything she does, AM puts her entire being and her considerable talents into the observance of Hanukkah. Describing herself as a “traditionalist,” she observes the Sabbath and all the Jewish holidays in her own special way, tradition culled throughout a lifetime, seeking out new friends and extending her brand of pull-out-all-the-stops hospitality.</p>
<p>For Hanukkah, AM brings out her 50-year collection of dreidels, the fun kind, not the showcase variety, dumps them in a considerable Venetian blown glass bowl her husband bought her especially for the collections, and centers them on her holiday table. She scatters others as place cards at her table settings.</p>
<p>AM’s festive table is ablaze with brilliant blue glass dinner ware, and every guest is guaranteed a blue and white hand-dipped chocolate pretzel, a homemade sugar cookie in the shape of a dreidel or perhaps a Star of David, a bag of chocolate “gelt” (money) scattered among whimsical mementos accumulated through the years.</p>
<p>Her table is surrounded by her collection of menorahs — the 9-branch candelabra signature of any Hanukkah celebration. AM’s collection — she can’t count them — includes an oil-burning menorah, an electric menorah, variously themed menorahs she has received as gifts, and one that has come down in the family of her late husband, Dr. John Goldkrand.</p>
<p>This Holiday of Religious Freedom recognizes “one of the first instances of religious persecution in history,” explains Congregation Mickve Israel’s Rabbi Robert Haas. It commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.</p>
<p>And yet, it isn’t even mentioned in the Bible. The only thing Hanukkah has in common with Christmas is that it is celebrated at the same time of the year, and its mystique and its celebration have grown to prominence because of the celebration of Christmas. The exchange of presents is new; the culture of parties is new; large scale decorating is new.</p>
<p>And why not? It’s fun, according to Rabbi Haas, who noted that as Christmas became more of a celebration in this country, after World War II, so did the observance of Hanukkah. He dates the real growth to the 1980s.</p>
<p>Rabbi Haas points to Hanukkah as providing the first lesson of religious freedom. It exemplifies the importance for people to find their own ways to God. “Here in America,” he says, “it means that people are free to choose their own religion and observe and celebrate it in any way that they would like, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the rights of others.”</p>
<p>Goldkrand is a gourmet cook with an emphasis on healthy food. She leaves the skins on the potatoes and the apples, because that’s where the nutrients are.</p>
<p>She uses a layer of Canola oil instead of deep frying the latkes. She adds no sugar or sweetener to her apples. She has hundreds of cookbooks on her kitchen bookshelves, more in the library downstairs, and yet she has given away hundreds more.</p>
<p>But, as is typical, she does not have a written recipe for her signature latkes. For this article, Goldkrand tried to reconstruct the recipe she has used for years.</p>
<p>She offered: “Let’s have lunch. I have a potato. I’ll show you.” With a lone russet potato, a quarter of an onion, an egg, a little flour and salt, she confirmed and converted.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>AM’S SIGNATURE LATKES </strong></p>
<p>Makes about 10 servings</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>5 lbs potatoes — either Russet or Yukon Gold — unpeeled but well scrubbed</p>
<p>1 onion</p>
<p>3-5 eggs, slightly beaten</p>
<p>2-3 tbsp flour (unbleached or gluten free)</p>
<p>Dash of salt</p>
<p>Canola oil</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Grate potatoes in a food processor, using the shredding blade. Remove half of the potatoes, change to regular steel blade and continue to process remaining potatoes with the onion. Drain mixture in a strainer, pressing out the water. Combine potato mixtures. Add eggs, flour and salt. Mix well.</p>
<p>Drop by oversized tablespoons, or an ice cream scoop, into a thin layer of hot oil. With a spatula, press almost flat (about 2 ½ inches in diameter). Cook until edges begin to turn. Flip. Fry until crisp and golden on the outside, soft on the inside. Remove from heat onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with a brown paper bag, or paper towels. Serve immediately, or remove to a 275 degree oven, or slightly undercook and reheat later on a foil lined cookie sheet in a 375 degree oven. May be frozen.</p>
<p>Serve with applesauce or sour cream.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>AM’S HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE</strong></p>
<p>Leave skin on the apples. (The color of the applesauce depends on the variety of the apples. AM prefers a firm red apple, such as Rome Beauty, Cortland, Jonagold, Gala.) Seed and quarter the apples. Add 2 tbsp water to the bottom of the pot. Stew in a covered saucepan, until soft. (Check in about 20 minutes.) To leave chunky, peel off the skins, or for finer sauce, put through a Foley food mill. Serve warm or chilled. May be frozen.</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2012-12-07/savannah-woman-hanukkah-about-family-food-and-fun#commentsAccentJane KahnJerusalemCongregation Mickve IsraelAmericaCandelabraChanukahChristmasDreidelFestival of LightsfoodFood and drinkHanukkahHanukkah stampsHoly TempleJewish cuisineJewish cultureJewish holidayJohn GoldkrandMenorahoilPerson CareerPotatoPotato pancakeRabbiRobert HaasRusset Burbank potatoWhite House Hanukkah PartySat, 08 Dec 2012 03:54:50 +0000Jane Kahn1017828 at http://savannahnow.comYMCA of Coastal Georgia joins community to fight diabeteshttp://savannahnow.com/accent/2012-11-27/ymca-coastal-georgia-joins-community-fight-diabetes
<div><img src="http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_slideshow_thumb/11764404.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb imagecache-default imagecache-story_slideshow_thumb_default" width="280" height="221" /></div><p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The YMCA of Coastal Georgia is so certain its innovative year-old, year-long diabetes prevention program will succeed that after the initial five-week training program, committed participants are offered a free one-month membership to help with the exercise phase.</p>
<p>That, however, is not the thrust of the program. Its focus is to reach people at risk for type 2 diabetes and train them for major lifestyle changes that will prevent the onset of diabetes and help them avoid medications. November is National Diabetes Awareness Month.</p>
<p>The YMCA of Coastal Georgia Diabetes Prevention Program includes 16 one-hour classroom sessions, followed by monthly maintenance with a trained lifestyle coach who helps participants learn new strategies for lifestyle changes. It is designed to help people lose 5 percent to 7 percent of body weight through healthier eating and an increase in their physical activity to 150 minutes a week.</p>
<p>“It works,” promises Lori Sowers, a lifestyle coach for the Y’s Diabetes Prevention Program and a YMCA community wellness coordinator. “If you follow the program, I guarantee it works.” Her upbeat approach involves give-and-take with the participants, encouraging them with the most difficult requirements of the program — tracking their food and getting on the scale. “Everything that goes on in the room, stays in the room,” she adds.</p>
<p>Through the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program, “we are helping people in the low country area make lifestyle changes that can help avoid developing type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases,” said Susan Lindsey, YMCA diabetes prevention coordinator for the YMCA of Coastal Georgia.</p>
<p>The Y’s program teaches people to make lifestyle changes that lead to greater health. The local program is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Diabetes Prevention Program and is based on the National Institutes of Health Diabetes Prevention Program study that shows a reduction in the number of cases of diabetes by 58 percent.</p>
<p>Currently, 74 YMCAs in 31 states offer the program. There are 10 Ys in Coastal Georgia — four programs are on-going, with 10 already completed, serving approximately 80 people so far. Lindsey said the Y will set up programs at various locations — it’s a mobile program — to fit the schedule of the group. The cost is $150 for the year.</p>
<p>When Donna Summers, a local participant, was diagnosed by her doctor as prediabetic, she knew she needed to take steps necessary to prevent her symptoms from turning into diabetes.</p>
<p>“I have several family members who have been diagnosed with diabetes and knew that while this disease is manageable if there was a way I could avoid getting to that point I would take the actions necessary,” Summers says. “If you can prevent it, why not?”</p>
<p>“It’s simple, but it’s not easy,” Sowers recently told a room full of city of Savannah employees being offered the program. “We want you to have your feet when you’re 85. We want you to have your eyesight.”</p>
<p>“It works. If you follow the program, I guarantee it works,” Sowers promised. And, along the way, preventing type 2 diabetes provides major reduction in social and economic costs. Medical expenses for people with diabetes are estimated at more than two times higher than for people without the disease.</p>
<p>A diagnosis of prediabetes includes elevated blood glucose levels. People who are overweight, inactive and over the age of 45 are at risk. An estimated one in three adults in the United States has prediabetes, yet just 7 percent know they have it.</p>
<p>The YMCA program provides nutrition, education and exercise education. It’s not for everyone. The candidates must be at risk for type 2 diabetes — and that includes being overweight or obese, with a BMI of 25 or greater, inactive, over the age of 45 with an elevated blood glucose level. Requirements of the program are that the participants track their food for 16 weeks, including what and when they are eating. Five weeks into the program, they begin a proscribed exercise program. Committed participants tend to lose 20 pounds.</p>
<p>“I’ve tried dieting before and it never worked for me,” Summers says. “I have never been able to lose like I did once I enrolled in this program. I believe it’s because this isn’t a diet, it’s a lifestyle change. I have learned so much in such a short time and I make sure to pass this information onto my kids and grandchildren so they can improve their health as well,” she added.</p>
<p>For more info, call 912-354-5480 or email <a href="mailto:susan@ymcaofcoastalga.org">susan@ymcaofcoastalga.org</a>.</p>
http://savannahnow.com/accent/2012-11-27/ymca-coastal-georgia-joins-community-fight-diabetes#commentsAccentJane KahnBusinessLaborLawSavannahCoastal GeorgiaAmerican Diabetes AssociationBusinessCenters for Disease Control and PreventioncoachContact DetailscoordinatorCoordinator for the YMCADiabetesDiabetes mellitus type 1Diabetes PreventionDiabetes Prevention ProgramDonna SummersEndocrine systemfoodGeorgiaHealthJoslin Diabetes CenterLaborLawLori SowersMajorMedicinePerson Email AddressPrediabetesQuotationSusan LindseyUSDTue, 27 Nov 2012 05:10:11 +0000Jane Kahn1016796 at http://savannahnow.com